GOP congressman Michael Grimm to face tax-evasion trial on December 1

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday set December 1 as the start of the tax-evasion trial of New York Congressman Michael Grimm, one month after elections in which the Republican seeks a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Grimm, a former FBI agent who represents parts of the city’s boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island, appeared before Judge Pamela Chen in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. He did not speak during or after the hearing.

He was indicted in April on charges of fraud, perjury and conspiracy tied to his New York restaurant, Healthalicious.

Grimm, 44, who lives on Staten Island, one of the city’s rare Republican-leaning districts, has denied the charges.

Prosecutors had originally sought to start the trial in October, weeks ahead of the Nov. 4 elections.

Separate from the criminal proceedings, Grimm made headlines when he was caught on camera in January threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony in the U.S. Capitol, saying: “I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”